


Bad Habits

by diemdoll



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble, F/M, War, collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 14:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11511300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diemdoll/pseuds/diemdoll
Summary: Hermione knew he was as much her bad habit as she was his and she would never be able to give him up. War, hell, or high waters-- he was hers.





	Bad Habits

**Author's Note:**

> :)

::

 

She knew she was toeing a dangerous line, but had long since convinced herself that what she was doing, what they were doing, was a victimless crime.

 

She stared at him now, intent on memorizing the details of his face and of his body while his distraction made him vulnerable. 

 

He always told her he hated when she looked at him like one of her books– like something that could be studied, categorized, and filed away, but she couldn’t help it.

 

She thought he was beautiful.

 

He was made of rough edges and harsh lines but often told her that she smoothed them out with her smiles.

 

He was as cold as he was polarizing, but had convinced her that the fire in her fingertips could melt him in an instant.

 

And he was unattainable, but that wasn’t what he whispered into her skin when they got each other alone on nights like these.

 

“You still smoke?” she asked when his head finally turned to acknowledge her.

 

She found herself sitting next to him on the porch swing before she made up her mind to do so. Something about him always called out to her, and she found herself listening to that call more times than not.

 

“Don’t worry, Granger, you’re still my favorite muggle habit,” he promised as he breathed out a long line of smoke. “You’re just as addictive as nicotine…probably worse for me in the long run, don’t you think?”

 

She ran her hands up and down her arms as the cold summer breeze swept past them. “You think I’m bad for you?” Hermione asked despite willing herself not to.

 

“I think we might be bad for each other.” he shrugged.

 

“Then why do we keep doing this?” Hermione asked, her voice revealing more than she wanted.

 

“Because, Granger, bad things happen to bad people–” He paused to take another drag from his cigarette and breathed out the smoke with a dry laugh- “I figured out months ago that you’re my bad thing…my bad habit.”

 

She smiled sadly. “Then why won’t you give me up?”

 

“Do you see those stars up there?” he pointed towards the sky. “My mother used to tell me a foolish man fills his life with more bad habits than the sky has stars, but a wise man knows to only labor himself with the one he thinks shines the brightest; the one he needs most of all.”

 

“What does that even mean, Draco?” she asked, her face scrunched in confusion. She wanted nothing more than to search his eyes for answers, but his, unlike hers, were still stuck on the stars that hung above them.

 

He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe she didn’t understand. “It means that I had a bad habit for every star in the sky. And then one day I decided to stop being a fool.”

  
He shrugged off his jacket and handed it to her when he noticed she was shivering from the cold. It was much too big for her small frame, but she thought it fit perfectly.

 

“Draco, I–”

 

“I came into the war as a boy who knew nothing of the world outside of what I’d been indoctrinated into.” He regarded her seriously before he put out his cigarette. “I lost so much of the world I knew by choosing to fight for the Order. I gave up my bad habits— my family, friends, connections…my _birthright_..for this.” He motioned to the open space around them.

 

Hermione nodded. “We know how much you had to sacrifice to be here with us.”

 

“And I won’t sacrifice anymore, “ he told her, shaking his head, “This war has taken so much from us, Granger. I can’t even keep track of all the things and people we’ve lost so far. But I do know that I don’t want you anywhere near that list. You’re the only bad habit I have left and the only one I want.”

 

Hermione knew he was as much her bad habit as she was his and she would never be able to give him up. War, hell, or high waters– he was hers.

 

She thought to tell him as much, but when he reached for her hand and laced his fingers through hers, the words escaped her. 

 

::


End file.
